We Need Diverse Books!

The We Need Diverse Books Campaign is off and running!  Today folks are sharing there reasons why, and here is my younger son with his own sign--"We need diverse kid's books because it's easy for me to find kids like me in books but it's not easy for my friends!"

 

I've been trying to blog about books with diversity for the past five years (here's the post in which I get started), hunting out fantasy and sci fi books for kids in which the protagonists are kids who don't default to white. I want my boys to take it for granted that any kid, from any part of the world, can be the hero or heroine of a story. I've kept a list of the multicultural books I've reviewed here, and I've just started a new blog, Diversity in Science Fiction and Fantasy for Kids and Teens, where I'm posting them all in one place, to make them easier to find.  (I'd hoped to have more of reviews up there by today, but I found too many typos to make it go as quickly as I'd hoped!)

The We Need Diverse Books campaing continues tomorrow and the next day.  From the site:

 

"On May 2^nd, the second part of our campaign will roll out with a Twitter chat scheduled for 2pm (EST) using the same hashtag. Please use #WeNeedDiverseBooks at 2pm on May 2nd and share your thoughts on the issues with diversity in literature and why diversity matters to you.

 

On May 3^rd, 2pm (EST), the third portion of our campaign will begin. There will be a Diversify Your Shelves initiative to encourage people to put their money where their mouth is and buy diverse books and take photos of them. Diversify Your Shelves is all about actively seeking out diverse literature in bookstores and libraries, and there will be some fantastic giveaways for people who participate in the campaign! More details to come!"